The invention relates to a method and apparatus for regenerating the filter bed of a peeling centrifuge comprising a rotatable centrifuging drum which is surrounded by a stationary filtrate collection chamber.
The filter bed of a peeling centrifuge is formed substantially of a filter cloth, and the residue layer which cannot be further husked or peeled and which is left on the filter cloth after the peeling operation. Very fine solid particles remain suspended in the filter bed, and the number of these particles increases from batch to batch until the bed becomes blocked. At that point, the bed must be regenerated.
A known technique for regenerating the filter bed involves the use of a washing liquid which is introduced into the interior of the drum. This proposal, however, is effective only in cases where the solids are soluble in the liquid. In cases where the solids are insoluble, regeneration may be accomplished by stopping the drum and chiseling out the solids layer. Alternatively, the drum may be enveloped by the integral, siphon-like trough suggested in U.S. Pat. No. 1,761,593, granted June 3, 1930, which can be used to bring about an inwardly directed flow of liquid through the bed as the drum rotates. However, the first of these techniques entails obvious inconveniences, and the second involves undesirable complexities.